Sultanate of Oman

This blog is a translation of my marathi essay on Oman.

The primary reason why I started writing is my mother insisted as she felt I can be better at it if I try. However, till very recently I was unable to break away my hesitation just then, came in a blessing in disguise of attending a talk show where, one of the author’s while sharing his experience, said “write the stories that you know, just start”, this kind of acted as a motivation for me. 

Today’s topic is Oman a subject very close to my heart and it is opportune time to talk about the country and its people when they celebrate their 49th National Day on 18th November 2019. 

When anyone hears the words Gulf or the Middle East the countries or cities which come flashing by, are the famous ones like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, and the NRI fan favorite airlines home country Qatar. Very few are interested to see anything beyond these places and that's why countries like Oman never come to the limelight and moreover, Oman too has never been an attention seeker. Another reason for this is an inherent aversion to reading the history or understanding the geography of the nations around us.

We will begin with a brief about the country. Geographically Oman is part of the Arab Countries. It is a member state of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and is an absolute monarchy. The current monarch Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Busaidy is ruling since 1970 and he is the 14th Sultan from the Al-Busaidy dynasty. The size of the country is like India's state of Madhya Pradesh or Maharashtra. The country follows Ibadhi Islam a distinct branch of Islam, which makes it distinguish from the other Islamic Countries, probably this uniqueness keeps it away from the sectarian violence we hear around the Arab world.

You don't need to be a history scholar to find references of Oman and Bharat i.e. today’s Indian Subcontinent and their relations which go way back to the times of Saraswati Civilization when the two were called Magan and Meluha respectively. It is not just restricted to the cultural exchange but, has a huge influence of trade and migrations, an example of this is, we find many ethnic Baloch people prominently in Muscat Province who have their ancestral links to today's Baluchistan province of Pakistan. The end of the 14th Century saw the rise of Portuguese domination over the Indian Ocean, where parts of Oman and Bharat came under the cruel control of the Portuguese. However, Omanis led by Sultan Ibn Saif were fortunate to have freed themselves in 1650 with the help of an Indian Merchant called Naruttam, thereby, not having to suffer the cruelty of Portuguese the way the western coast of Bharat (principally Goa) had to, until 1960 when it was liberated. The freedom from foreign rule for the Omanis was short-lived as a few decades later, they saw themselves occupied by Persians led by Nadir Shah (the same Nadir Shah who raided Delhi in 1739 and took away the famous Peacock throne from the Mughals). To break away from the shackles of Persians, in 1747 a united front of Omanis led by Ahmed Ibn Said invited the Persian officers for a ceremonial banquet, where the hosts attacked and massacred the guests. Focussing on the future and security of the country, the Omanis signed a long-term strategic alliance with the British and it remained the same till the late twentieth century. 

In 1804, Sultan Said ascended the throne and his fifty-two-year rule is said to be the golden period of Oman. In his tenure, the Omanis dominated the Indian Ocean trade, of course with the help of the British. They expanded their control from the eastern coast of Africa (today's Tanzania) up to Gwadar (today's Pakistan). The Gwadar port was part of Oman until the time when in 1958 it was sold to Pakistan. The strategic alliance with the British helped Oman in both the world wars and it was able to maintain its freedom. In all this there was an absence of care for people as for a country just maintaining freedom is not enough, it requires the ruler or the government to try and minimize the hardship to the general public. To bring about a change, Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Busaidy decided to take over the control of the Sultanate of Oman and on 23 July 1970 where he executed a successful coup against his father Sultan Said Bin Taimur with the help of the British.

In today’s materialistic world it is very rare to find such a fatherly ruler and the general public also reciprocates the same love and affection towards Sultan and is lovingly called “Baba Qaboos”. The time when Sultan Qaboos took over the control of the Sultanate the condition was very difficult. Absence of basic infrastructure and very few educated people, they too working in other countries which did not help Oman in any way. We can say that the country was unfit to enter the 21st Century with old ports, very few schools in comparison to the population, near absence of paved roads in the country, electricity restricted to Muscat and some nearby places, etc. The crude oil sources were of great help to generate revenue to fund the investment projects which Sultan Qaboos initiated. The 70’s decade saw many new projects undertaken for the infrastructure development which paved the way for the country’s progress. Ending the Dhofar rebellion was another important achievement of Sultan Qaboos, this was a legacy issue from the earlier rulers where the southern region bordering Yemen rose in rebellion demanding freedom which was the result of a feeling of discontent built up over several years. In 1981, Oman became part of the GCC and shed away its isolated past. Oman enjoys a unique place in the global politics where it maintains good relations with countries which are poles apart and that too at the same time, for example, Iran-Saudi Arabia, India-Pakistan, USA-Iran, etc. Another achievement of Oman is its instrumental, however, rarely spoken role in the US-Iran nuclear deal. The government of Oman works with the objective of consistent focus on people-centric development under the aegis of Sultan Qaboos, which has not just limited itself to the capital region but, has spread to the small towns and villages in the country. 

Recently, we heard a lot of appreciation in the news about the developments in Saudi Arabia on women’s rights mainly, on allowing women to drive cars. However, with Oman it is not new, the country is a long way ahead on this front and it is not just restricted to driving cars, but it is the women’s contribution to nation building and growing the economy. The country has several women leaders in various fields contributing to the growth and wellbeing of the nation without the help of any kind of reservations.

With all the above efforts still, we cannot say that the task of progress is complete, and Oman still has a long way to go. Nevertheless, I feel fifty years is too short a period to assess a country. Until now the economy mainly hinges on the crude oil resources which need to be revisited. As part of diversification Oman has started investing in the tourism industry, but then in this sphere, the neighbors to the likes of UAE are far ahead in the race. While the two cannot be compared as Oman is highly blessed by nature and does not need to invest in the artificial beautification like UAE had to, it only needs to invest in improving the infrastructure and accessibility to bank on the available natural wealth.

Almost every Omani feels that Sultan’s rule should never end, and they pray for his long life. Yet, a relevant question at hand is Who will succeed Sultan Qaboos? His successor must at the very least be a capable person, who will be able to maintain what Sultan Qaboos created, I hope the ministers in the government or Sultan himself has an answer to this question.